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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 1, 2014

World Cup 2014 views from Tokyo and Yokohama: Belgium, Chile and Argentina

A Belgian researcher, a Chilean chef and an Argentine graphic designer in Tokyo and Yokohama discuss their national teams' prospects in Brazil.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
May 31, 2014

Japan called lackadaisical; simple-living laws introduced; tourist recommendations questioned; China's use of force deplored

'Of course it may be all that you say it is, and all that the guide books assure that it is, but to me Tokyo is insufferably dull, very muggy and generally uninteresting!'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 31, 2014

Media eyes trend-setting Sony's loss of momentum

Let's travel back 62 years. On the evening of Dec. 4, 1952, after NHK radio signed off its regular AM programming, an announcer proclaimed: "Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo and NHK now commence a joint experimental stereo broadcast."
Japan Times
CULTURE
May 31, 2014

Essential summer festivals 2014

A summer without festivals simply wouldn’t be a proper summer in Japan, so now that the humidity has returned, it’s time to slop on an extra layer of sunscreen and line up some outdoor activities.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
May 31, 2014

When industry works in step with nature

It was about 15 years ago when an old friend, Yoshito Umezaki, invited me to dinner in Tokyo to meet a friend of his named Masayoshi "Mike" Ushikubo — "a really great guy who loves mountains, travels all over the world and is a company president who has a little problem."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 31, 2014

BOJ steps up growth 'rhetoric'

Japan's risk of spurring inflation without boosting the nation's growth potential is raising the stakes for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's next round of economic restructuring measures, due in June.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 31, 2014

Bullying weakens Japanese, U.S. schools

Bullying of LGBT students is reaching epidemic proportions in schools in Japan and the United States even as greater tolerance is demonstrated for students of different races, cultures and abilities.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 31, 2014

Former stars in tough times; Osore-zan, "Mountain of Fear"; CM of the week: Mos-Do

Japanese TV is fascinated with the lives of people who were famous in their youth, as shown on "Tama no Koshi ni Notta no ni, Sono Go Donzoiku ni Ochita Onna-tachi" ("Women Who Married Rich But Later Fell to the Bottom"; TV Asahi, Mon., 7 p.m.).
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 30, 2014

Industrial heartland faces possible energy crunch

The industrial heartland in western Japan is facing the prospect of electricity shortages over the summer in the absence of nuclear power.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 29, 2014

Pyongyang decides to reopen investigation into Japanese abductees

In a potential breakthrough, Pyongyang has agreed to reinvestigate the fates of Japanese who vanished in North Korea, including those suspected of being abducted by North Korean agents, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2014

Pigeon's quest for the perfect nipple

In a quiet side room at Pigeon Corp.'s spacious R&D facility north of Tokyo, researchers are on a high-tech quest to perfect a baby's bottle nipple that replicates that of a breast-feeding mother.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2014

The ideology of those who kidnap schoolgirls

Until we clean the education soil in which the plants producing the poisonous ideologies enforced by Boko Haram and other extremist groups take root, the life chances of millions of young people around the world will be jeopardized.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 28, 2014

Outdoor kabuki marks Skytree anniversary

To commemorate the second anniversary of the May 22, 2012 opening of Tokyo Skytree, the leading kabuki actors Nakamura Shichinosuke and Onoe Matsuya last Saturday performed the popular dance-based piece "Dango-Uri" ("The Dumpling Sellers") on an outdoor stage in the Sky Arena at the tower's base.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
May 27, 2014

Japan says 'aloha' to Hawaiian food

I should have realized that my first trip to Cinnamon's would end in tears. Or, at least, in an uncomfortably long wait. This newly opened transplant from Kailua, Hawaii, is on the bucket list of every OL (office lady) in the Kanto area, and its location near Yokohama's waterfront guarantees heavy walk-in...
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2014

Taking aim at Japan's gender problem

Media coverage of the rise and fall of Japanese scientist Haruko Obokata illustrates the problem with the third arrow of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policy — and its otherwise laudable goal of expanding the participation of women in positions of power.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
May 26, 2014

Letters: Kikokushijo encounter trouble upon re-entry

Japanese returnees and others discuss the trials and tribulations facing those educated abroad if and when they attempt to settle back in Japan.
Japan Times
Rugby
May 25, 2014

Japan punches ticket to Rugby World Cup in final sporting event at national stadium

Japan booked its place at the 2015 Rugby World Cup with a 49-8 win over Hong Kong on Sunday in the final sporting event at National Stadium before it is demolished and rebuilt to stage the 2020 Olympics.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 25, 2014

Al Shabab attacks Somali parliament, killing at least 10

Al-Shabab militants stormed Somalia's parliament on Saturday, killing at least 10 security officers in a bomb and gun assault that the United States condemned as a "heinous act of terrorism."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 24, 2014

Ball and chain: gambling's darker side

With lawmakers debating whether to legalize gambling in time for the 2020 Olympics, we look at the other side of the coin — addiction
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 24, 2014

A "New Interpretation of Japanese History"; the seawall debate; CM of the week: Yomeishu

Teacher-cum-TV personality Osamu Hayashi has made Toshin, where he works, the most famous juku (cram school) in Japan. One Toshin colleague who has ridden on his coattails is history instructor Shinichiro Kanetani, the host of the new series "Shinkaishaku Nihonshi" ("New Interpretation of Japanese History";...
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2014

Opportunity for U.S. to extricate itself from Korea

The U.S. should reduce the possibility of impoverished, remote North Korea interfering with its own peace, stability and prosperity by simply going home: Terminate the defense treaty with South Korea.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2014

Modi's foreign policy agenda

When Shinzo Abe led his party to a landslide victory in Japan's 2012 general election, he broke from protocol by taking a congratulatory call from Narendra Modi, then a state leader in India. The mutual respect between the two strongly nationalist prime ministers could pay handsome dividends.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2014

Boko Haram stirs fear and defiance

A news team on the trail of Boko Haram finds people in Chibok, the heartland of the Islamist rebel group, competing to host news team members and praying for their safe return to Nigeria's capital.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2014

'Oh! Father'

Japanese mystery writers have long supplied fodder for TV shows and films, but mysteries of the puzzle-plot sort have reached a saturation point. Or maybe it's just me, fed up with stories that turn on such vital questions as — in the immortal words of Raymond Chandler — "who trampled the jolly old...

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